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Transcript

Delivering Bad News To Staff - Make Difficult Conversations Easier · Enhance.training

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Delivering bad news to staff is definitely one of the hardest jobs of being a manager.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: There is nothing nice about delivering bad news to employees and team members.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: It sucks, yet it is part of the job.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Businesses have ups and downs, so you will have to deliver bad news multiple times during your management career.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: There are tried and tested steps to make difficult conversations easier for the recipients and for yourself.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Minimising the anger, upset and damage to relationships from delivering bad news at work is very valuable to you and to the business.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Do a good job, and team members are much less likely to leave, are likely to remain more motivated and produce higher team performance and appreciate you a lot more.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're going through firstly how to deliver bad news to team members to minimize the negative impact.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Secondly, to provide context in an honest and straightforward way.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Third, allow venting of emotions but minimise debate.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: And fourth, get the team focused on the future.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: Make your life at work a lot easier by doing the best job you can when delivering bad news to your team at work.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: My name is Jess Coles, and if you're new here, Enhance.training shares people management expertise, resources and courses teaching you how to build high performing teams.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: We have lots of free resources and webinars available to add more depth to your knowledge or save you a ton of time.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: So do visit us at Enhance.training to make use of these.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: So let's cover how to deliver bad news to team members to minimize the negative impact.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: No one likes delivering bad news.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of research on how best to give bad news comes from the medical profession.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: The four most important factors in order are firstly the newsgiver's attitude, secondly, the clarity of the message, third, privacy, and fourth, the person's ability to answer questions.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Your attitude and communication skills have an enormous impact on how your messages will be received.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: When you're delivering bad news to employees, get straight to the point.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Don't spend time first engaging in small talk or asking how they are or building yourself up to give them the bad news.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, announce that you are delivering bad news.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: Give them literally a second or two to prepare themselves and then give them the bad news.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: For example, I have some bad news to share with you.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: You're being made redundant effective from Friday.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very sorry about this situation.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Or I'm sharing some bad news.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Ten percent of the workforce, including managers, will be made redundant in the next four weeks.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately the company needs to cut its costs because of the downturn in its sales.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm very sorry that this is happening.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: When prepared, people are surprisingly resilient.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Prepare them for the bad news.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Pause for a second or two and then give them the bad news.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: Show your emotions and sympathize with those receiving the news.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Show your empathy and compassion in your tone of voice and in your body language.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: It is very important that your nonverbal communication mirrors the words you're using.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: When verbal and nonverbal communication are aligned, there is no confusion.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Be ready for a lot of emotion in response.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, their reactions are about the situation, not about you personally.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Stay empathetic, honest and in control of your own emotions.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Second, when delivering bad news to staff, provide the context in an honest and straightforward way.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Explain the context or the process of the actions leading up to the decision.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: Be honest and tell the truth.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: People receiving bad news appreciate a straight talking person who tells the truth with compassion.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: If there are things that you can't reveal, say you're unable to share them.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Be honest and straightforward while explaining the situation that has led to the bad news.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: For example, as we have been sharing with you over the last six months, the company has continued to make losses.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: We've undertaken several cost-cutting initiatives which many of you have been involved with.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: We have now reached the point where cutting staff costs is the only practical option left.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: We've exhausted other options.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: The decision was taken this morning, and the leadership wanted you to know as soon as possible to reduce the uncertainty that everyone is feeling.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Note the inclusive language, using a lot of we to emphasize that everyone is in it together.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Provide the context in an honest and straightforward way.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Third, when delivering bad news to staff, allow venting of emotions but minimise debate.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: Allow a lot of time for questions and answer the questions raised in an empathetic and honest way.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: Be straightforward and as factual as possible in your answers.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: Try to avoid giving opinions where possible.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Allow the staff members to vent their emotions, their frustration, their anger, and their anxiety about the future.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Expect difficult questions and comments.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Be prepared emotionally to handle them calmly, with sympathy while remaining honest and straightforward.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: In these situations with emotions running high, avoid siding with or aligning yourself with the staff's position or situation.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Don't say things like, Yeah, I think this is a bad decision too.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: Stay neutral.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Sympathise but don't join them.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Stop any debate starting on the merits of the decisions already made.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Remind the staff that the decision has been taken and talking about it will not change that decision.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Help staff to mentally move on to dealing with the situation.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Provide information and what reassurance you can.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Fourth, after delivering bad news to staff, get the team focused on the future.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Give the staff time to process the bad news and what it means for them and then focus the staff on the future.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: The bad news you have communicated is almost guaranteed to give rise to additional problems that need solving.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: For instance, who is going to do XYZ's job when they leave?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Ask the team members to be part of the solution building process.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: This helps them focus on the future and move forward.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: If you're able to create and communicate a vision of the future, use straightforward everyday language to explain where you see the team going and what the future might look like.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: This helps provide direction and hope for the future.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: The worst thing at this point is for there not to be a plan and for everything to be disorganized.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: This increases the uncertainty.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, do your best to create as much certainty as possible by giving clear direction, by having clear, sensible and practical plans and communicating these with the team.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Plan as many actions to create as much certainty as possible about the future.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: So in summary, delivering bad news to staff is really unpleasant.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: It can be really tough when you are responsible for looking after them and when you've been working with them for a period of time.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Delivering bad news carefully, professionally and empathetically is really important to maintain motivation and team performance and to make the best out of a bad situation.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: As a reminder, when delivering bad news to staff, think about how to deliver bad news to team members to minimize the negative impact.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Announce it, wait a few seconds and then give them the bad news.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Second, provide the context in an honest and straightforward way.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Third, allow venting of emotions but minimise the debate.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: And fourth, get the team focused on the future.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions on delivering bad news to staff, make difficult conversations easier, please email me at support at enhance.training and I'll get back to you.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much for listening, and I look forward to speaking to you again soon.